The scorecards show the San Diego Padres tied 3-3 with the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday, then beat them 6-3 Sunday. The history books will show whether Major League Baseball's China Series can convert 1.3 billion people into lovers of bangqiu, or 'stickball', as Mandarin renders America's pastime.

Last March, Harvey Schiller, executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1990 to 1994, took on one of the hardest jobs in the Olympics. As president of the International Baseball Federation, he became, in effect, the global campaign manager for baseball, which was under a microscope even before the release of George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the major leagues.

Although baseball faces an uncertain Olympic future, the United States team is optimistic about its prospects for the Beijing Games - and the chances the sport will be back in the Olympics in a relatively short period of time.